East Ukraine tension mirrors lack of comfort, OSCE head says

April 24, 2014, 17:13 UTC+3VIENNA"What we see in Donetsk is a manifestation of lack of comfort, of the sense that there is no (people's) inclusiveness in the policies of the new government, that is why this dialogue is essential," the secretary general of OSCE says

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Lamberto Zannier, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

VIENNA, April 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Tensions in eastern Ukraine stem from protesters’ lack of comfort and sense of inclusiveness in the policies of the new government, the secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Lamberto Zannier told ITAR-TASS.

He said street protests should give way to a political process, while all international mediators should contribute to it.

"We need more dialogue, we need a more inclusive process in Ukraine. There are parts of the Ukrainian society that are still contesting the legitimacy of the government, it is important that the government reaches out to all communities, and there is more debate, debate about the constitution; debate about political processes including the elections, upcoming presidential elections must be a unifying process, not a dividing one. The political dialogue must come from the streets to the round table," Lamberto Zannier said.

People believed there was no inclusive dialogue on the part of the new government, Zannier said.

"The things we see in Donetsk are a manifestation of this situation of the lack of comfort, in a way, of people, and of the sense that there is no inclusiveness in the policies of the new government, that is why this dialogue is essential. From our side we can continue

this engagement, but we need the Ukrainians and we need the government in Kyiv more actively present there," he added.

He urged Ukrainian authorities to participate in it more actively, pledging support for this activity. He also noted that the country’s leadership had previously stated readiness to launch extensive discussion on constitutional reform.

"It is important to find ways to debate on the way forward in the context of a future direction of the constitution and also on elections," the secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted.